Critical Comparison: Japan Airlines (JAPSY) versus Its Peers

Dividends

Japan Airlines pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Japan Airlines pays out 9.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “TRANS – AIRLINE” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.4% and pay out 31.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Japan Airlines and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Japan Airlines	$12.11 billion	$706.45 million	11.96
Japan Airlines Competitors	$13.87 billion	$597.38 million	1.21

Japan Airlines’ peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Japan Airlines. Japan Airlines is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Japan Airlines and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Japan Airlines	6.04%	11.41%	4.01%
Japan Airlines Competitors	-16,556.17%	13.99%	1.79%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.5% of shares of all “TRANS – AIRLINE” companies are owned by institutional investors. 9.0% of shares of all “TRANS – AIRLINE” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Japan Airlines has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Japan Airlines’ peers have a beta of 1.59, meaning that their average stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Japan Airlines peers beat Japan Airlines on 6 of the 11 factors compared.

Japan Airlines Company Profile

Japan Airlines Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled and non-scheduled air transport services in Japan, Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. The company operates through Air Transportation and Other segments. It offers passenger, ground handling, cargo and mail handling, and maintenance services. The company is also involved in the aerial work and other related business; airport peripheral business; and sale of travel package tours. As of March 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of 224 aircraft. The company was formerly known as Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. in April 2011. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.